Sports Enthusiast? Try Extremest!

          When David Heller first got the idea to become a baseball memorabilia collector, he had no idea how big the hobby would become.
          It started back in 2005 when David was 18 years old.  He got the idea to start collecting by watching a television show about a Major League Baseball mega fan in Atlanta, Georgia.  
          He and I went to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown for the first time in 2006, where we met players like Gary Carter, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra.  From there Heller (and myself) fell in love with collecting.
          Heller has compiled an impressive collection.  Including baseballs signed by Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire.  But his most treasured piece is one he just completed, his "mega-ticket".
          Back in 2008 the old Yankee Stadium held its last all-star game before closing the next year.  To commemorate the moment every living member of the Hall of Fame was invited to the game. Forty-nine players, coaches and administrators accepted the invitation.  It was in that moment, when all the players were standing together that Heller got his biggest idea.
          "I thought how cool it would be to have all these players on one piece," Heller said.
          When he got home Heller went online to find something big enough for his project.  He was starting to believe he never would find something good enough until he ran into the website "That's My Ticket".
          The website allowed him to blow up his ticket 500-600% to make a "mega-ticket"  
          From there Heller began a journey that took him from everywhere from New York to San Diego and everywhere in between.  Meeting Hall of Famers like Willie McCovey, George Brett and even the commissioner Bud Selig.  

David Heller with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig 

          Where did he get the money for all this you ask?  "Well, I'm a general manager at Party City, and my parents helped in the beginning," Heller said.  When asked how he was going to pay them back Heller said, "I'm hoping they eventually forget about it.  But I doubt it."  
          However, it all payed off as just a month ago on February 18th the prized possession was complete.  Here are three photos of the completed project:

           Now that this one is complete Heller has started working on two more.  One of the 1996 Yankees and one of the 2006 Yankees, both teams were World Series champions.  Heller doesn't know when those will be completed.  But one thing he does know is when those tickets are done, a new project will begin.